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Kirsten Dunst
Kirsten Dunst at the 2005 Toronto Film Festival promoting Elizabethtown, photo by Tony Shek

Kirsten Caroline Dunst (born April 30, 1982) is a Golden Globe nominated American actress, perhaps best known for her roles in Interview with the Vampire, The Virgin Suicides, Marie Antoinette, and Bring It On, as well as Mary Jane Watson in Spider-Man and its sequels, Spider-Man 2 and the upcoming Spider-Man 3.

Biography

Early life

Dunst was born in Point Pleasant, New Jersey, to Inez and Klaus Dunst, who are separated. Her father, a German medical services executive, remained in New Jersey. Her mother, a Swedish former art gallery owner, moved to California. Dunst has a younger brother, Christian.

Dunst attended the Ranney School in New Jersey, but graduated in 2000 from Notre Dame High School in the Sherman Oaks neighborhood of Los Angeles, California.

Career

Dunst got her start as a child fashion model at the age of three in television commercials. She was signed with Ford Models and Elite Model Management. In a 1988 episode of Saturday Night Live, she played the role of President George H. W. Bush's granddaughter, in a sketch in which Dana Carvey acted as President Bush. In 1989, Dunst moved to the big screen with New York Stories. Soon after, she landed a small part in The Bonfire of the Vanities as Tom Hanks's daughter. Dunst also did the voice of Kiki in the 1989 anime film Kiki's Delivery Service. In 1993, Dunst played Hedril in the seventh season episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation called "Dark Page". She also had a recurring role as a child prostitute, Charlie Chiemingo, on ER

Her feature film breakthrough came in Interview with the Vampire, a 1994 film based on Anne Rice's novel. The movie featured a scene in which Dunst, then-aged eleven, had to kiss Brad Pitt, who was 29. Dunst was also offered a role in the 1999 Academy Award-winning film American Beauty, but turned it down because she did not want to appear in the film's suggestive sexual scenes or kiss co-star Kevin Spacey. At the 2002 Mar de Plata Film Festival, Dunst won the Best Actress Silver Ombú for her performance as Charlie Chaplin's love interest Marion Davies in Peter Bogdanovich's The Cat's Meow.

Dunst made her singing debut in the 2001 film, Get Over It, performing two songs written by Marc Shaiman. She also lent her musical voice to the end credits of The Cat's Meow by singing the old standard, "After You've Gone." Dunst had previously appeared in the music video for Savage Garden's "I Knew I Loved You" as the love interest of Darren Hayes.

Dunst's most recent film is Marie Antoinette, which premiered at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival and was released in North America on October 20, 2006. In the film, her second with director Sofia Coppola, Dunst plays the title character and uses an American accent in the role.

Dunst is slated to portray peace activist Marla Ruzicka in a film scripted by Lorene Scafaria for Warner Independent Pictures in late 2006. Dunst also reprises her role of Mary Jane Watson in Spider-Man 3, which is scheduled for a release on May 4, 2007. Dunst initially signed on to appear in three Spider-Man films, and has said that she would not appear in a fourth film unless director Sam Raimi returned to direct.

It is stated that Dunst is in the running to play the role of Debbie Harry in a rumored bio-pic of the singer and her band, Blondie.

Personal life

She started dating actor Jake Gyllenhaal in September 2002, after meeting him through his sister, Maggie Gyllenhaal (her Mona Lisa Smile co-star). They officially broke up in July 2004 but remained off and on until December 2005.

In October 2006, Dunst announced that she would like to take a break from appearing in films and attend art school. The same month, while promoting Marie Antoinette on Comedy Central's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, she said it was her favorite television show.

Filmography

Further reading

• "Dreamweaver", Holly Millea, Premiere, July/August 2004

Footnotes

1. Kirsten is pronounced "KEER-sten" (IPA: 'kɪɹs.tn̩).
2. ^ "Virgin.net". Dunst to take time out. Retrieved October 16. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
3. Bio at absolutely.net
4. "Fametastic". Kirsten Dunst turned down Kevin Spacey kissing role. Retrieved October 16. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
5. "Can-Mag". Modern Marie Antoinette. Retrieved October 16. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
6. Untitled Dunst project at IMDb
7. "The Boston Herald". Dunst storm - Actress dives headfirst into "Marie Antoinette" role. Retrieved October 16. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
8. "Rolling Stone". Kirsten Dunst: The Latest Actor to Go Rock Star?. Retrieved October 25. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
9. "Gyllenhaal, Dunst call it quits; Diaz, Timberlake still on". USA Today. Retrieved 2006-08-02.

External links

• Kirsten Dunst at IMDb
• Template:Ymovies name
• Template:Nndb name
• kirsten-dunst.org - Fansite

[[Category:Actor's who portray Comic Book characters|

• American film actors
• American child actors
• American models
• ER actors
• Star Trek: The Next Generation actors
• New Jersey actors
• German-Americans
• Swedish-Americans
• 1982 births
• Living people